


Not weak, just loved

by NakuNakuNoMi



Category: One Piece
Genre: Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Other, SO FLUFFY, assurance, feel good fic, or at least feel better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:08:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26462437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NakuNakuNoMi/pseuds/NakuNakuNoMi
Summary: You were feeling invisible. You were getting bitter. Why weren't you as strong as your crewmates? Good thing the captain is there to cheer you up.
Relationships: Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks & Original Character(s), Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/Other(s), Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/Reader, Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/You
Kudos: 30





	Not weak, just loved

All the men on the Red Force were exceptionally talented. Years of experience, sailing all the seas, winning and losing battles, mostly winning though.... everything had contributed to the strength and confidence they now had. And it was necessary, after all, the crew of a Yonko cannot possibly be weak, especially not with such a small crew compared to the others. 

And yet. You were not as strong as the men on the ship. You were the only one who had only been there for a little while, not as a pirate initially, but as their captain’s partner of a few years. You were not weak, Shanks wouldn’t have let you sail with him if you were for your own safety. You could hold your own against most of the average pirates and other annoyances you ran into, which weren’t that many anymore, at this point most people knew who you were and knew better than to just attack part of a yonko’s crew without a solid plan, but compared to the others? You were nothing. At least that was what it felt like. 

Whenever the crew was training, you felt left out. There was nothing you could do really, unless they went really easy on you, but you could tell that they'd want to go all out sometimes, preferring to spar with crewmates they knew they wouldn't hurt in case something went wrong. You were "too frail" for that. It was often the main subject of their jokes, and you always laughed along with them, trying to hide just how much that actually hurt. 

Whenever they were sitting around a fire on an island, telling each other stories and reminiscing about islands visited years ago, you couldn't step in or add to the stories, your voice noticeably more quiet and soft amongst their deep and raucous voices. On top of that, you had only joined the crew a few years ago, and most of these stories were just that for you, stories. For you, they were not memories, but just stories that got wilder every time you heard them. 

It just all piled on. Negative after negative after negative. There were so many occasions where you felt weak, useless, a burden. And before you know those words were just on repeat in the back of your mind. You weren’t expected to help around too much on the ship, but you tried wherever you could, just so you could pass the time whenever Shanks was busy doing all his captain things, and you were usually sent away with some laughter and a comment that help was not needed. The crew did not mean this in any malicious way, just wanted to make sure you could relax and not overwork lest they had to hear the captain complain about them shoving work onto his love and tiring them out before he could do so, but to you, it just felt like them sneering at you for not being useful and you just felt yourself become more and more bitter every single time it happened.

Today you were finally docking on a new island after a few long weeks at sea. You were supposed to be excited about land underneath your feet, and new fresh food, but you could hardly find any enthusiasm to bring up. It would be the same as always. Supply shopping, maybe a little date with Shanks, which would be the highlight of your day, and then they would go to a bar, drink the place dry, get some more booze, and party on the beach until the sun came up again. Then the next day rinse and repeat until the ship was all stocked up and the log pose reset, and you and the crew would move onto the next island. You were not feeling up to it at all. You just knew that you would not be allowed to help load things onto the ship cause they were too heavy. You knew more stories would come that would never include you. And you were just not feeling up to that at all. 

So when you heard the familiar sounds of everyone running around, getting the ship ready to dock, you stayed in the bedroom you shared with Shanks instead of going out and watching the land get closer as you usually would do. Sitting on the bed, staring into the nothingness, your angry thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. It indicated that there was someone that had noticed your absence, but you ignored it, pretty sure that no one would really miss you anyway. 

The door opened, and in walked your red-haired boyfriend. You were surprised that he had even knocked on his own door, but you appreciated the gesture, certainly done to make you feel comfortable and like your privacy was respected. You couldn’t bear looking at him when he asked the question you knew was inevitably going to come up. 

“ _Is there something wrong?”_

You shrugged. The answer was yes, but you couldn’t exactly say something about it. You didn’t want to cause tension the moment you were arriving on an island. He walked over slowly, sitting next to you and placing his hand on your thigh. 

_ “What’s up then?”  _

You bit your lip. _“I don’t want to talk about it”._   
He leaned forward a bit, trying to make eye contact, but you turned your face away.    
_ “Please Shanks, just go with the crew, leave me here for a bit.”  _

He frowned. You didn’t sound extremely upset or sad. More empty and angry, and he did not want to leave you behind in such a state. 

_“You don’t want to come with us? This seems like a fun village, and I heard the local liquors are unlike anything we’ve tasted before.”_ When his soft smile and enthusiasm didn’t even manage to make you turn your head, he got really worried. Did he do something wrong? 

_“No, I don’t want to come with you. I don’t want to sit around the campfire and get confronted with how helpless and unnecessary I am around here. How I am never part of the grand story because I am weak,_ ” you took a sharp breath in, Shanks mouth falling open in a surprised o-shape, and now that you had finally started pouring out your feelings, you felt yourself unable to stop. 

_ “You know? Maybe I should get off on this island and just stay here cause apparently I am nothing but a dead weight on this ship. I am grateful for the adventures I had but apparently I was never significant enough to even mention in the wild drunken sto-”  _

_ “Y/n stop.”  _

His voice was stern, his expression serious. You finally looked at him and saw the usual mischievous twinkle in his eyes was nowhere to be seen either. It made you feel uneasy in some way. 

_“You’re not weak. You’re not dead weight. You’re not useless. Don’t…”_ he frowned, grasping one of your hands in his, _“don’t say such things about yourself. If you were weak, you’d never be allowed on this ship. If you weren’t loved, no one here would put up with you and look out for you. If you were such a nuisance… I’d never had noticed you. And yet here we are. You are loved,”_ he kissed your forehead, _“you are wanted_ ,” he kissed your left cheek, “ _you are needed, not a nuisance_ ,” he kissed your right cheek, “ _and I love you with all I have,”_ he kissed you on the lips. 

You felt tears prick at the corner of your eyes, it was becoming increasingly hard to keep your angry expression, and he didn’t stop talking. He started summing up moments where you would throw a weapon to one of the crewmates after they’d lost theirs, how you patched people up in the middle of a chaotic battlefield, how your tactics had helped the crew greatly, and countless of stories of how you had made him happy, smile, laugh, filled his days with joy. Before he was done talking, there were some tears silently streaming down your face, he rubbed them away, not even mentioning your teary eyes, still keeping that same, serious, focussed expression on. Although a new emotion had set in the twinkle of his eyes: love. 

_ “Are you coming with~? Maybe tonight we should dedicate all stories to you?”  _

Your eyes widened and you started to stutter. _“N-no...No, I am fine without all that extra drunken attention.”_

_ “As long as you’ll accept my drunken attention I won’t bother you” _

You smacked his arm painfully, noticing how your whole body seemed more relaxed now that you were no longer carrying most of those dark thoughts with you. Of course, there would undoubtedly be more moments where you felt unfit or inadequate but as you grabbed Shanks’ hand and followed him out on deck, you realized that there was always the one to make you feel better. You’d hold onto that thought. It’d work way better for your mood too. 


End file.
